Insulated door with reversible cover

ABSTRACT

An insulated refrigerator door is made from a rectangular metal sheet having wide flanges on four sides to which is connected a plastic inner door pan. The space in between is filled with polyurethane foam insulation. A molded flanged rectangular plastic member fits over the metal sheet and its flanges in two alternate positions located 180* apart. The metal sheet is fitted for hinging on either side. The plastic member is provided with an integral door handle adjacent one side usable in the proper position with either hinging of the door.

United States Patent Bradley [45] May 16, 1972 [541 INSULATED DOOR WITHREVERSIBLE 2,720,683 10/1955 Schwenker et al .49/486 COVER 3,349,51910/1967 Nehlig ..52/7l6 x ..4 m1 Thomas w-BradlmBiminghamMich- 312231322#323 223L181. ..435i [73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation, Detroit,3,525,190 8/1970 Saunders et a] .....52/3 11 X Mich. PrimaryExaminer-David J. Williamowsky [22] 1970 Assistant ExaminerPhilip C.Kannan [21] Appl. No.: 64,396 AttorneyWilliam S. Pettigrew and FrederickM. Ritchie 52 U.S. c1 ..49/501 [57] ABSTRACT [5 1] Int. 1 An insulatedrefrigerator door is made from a rectangular of Search l metal sheethaving flanges on four sides to i con. 49/402 486; 52/3] 622; 312/204,320 nected a plastic inner door pan. The space in between is filled withpolyurethane foam insulation. A molded flanged rectan- {561 Referencescued gular plastic member fits over the metal sheet and its flanges inUNITED STATES PATENTS two alternate positions located 180 apart. Themetal sheet is fitted for hinging on either side. The plastic member ispro- 3, l Barkan X vided an integral door handle adjacent one Sideusable in 3,264,047 8/1966 Steiner 12/204 X the proper position witheither hinging of the door. 3,430,386 3/1969 Sandin et al. ..49/3823,313,065 4/1967 Sandin ..49/460 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures INSULATEDDOOR WITH REVERSIBLE COVER Styling is an important consideration ofrefrigerator doors since such doors compose major portions of the frontof the cabinet. Styling differences are needed to differentiatedifferent models and brands. It is comparatively expensive to providesuch differences in metal parts. It is also highly desirable that suchdoors be easily adaptable for hinging on either side.

It is an object of this invention to provide an insulated doorincorporating a basic flanged metal structure which can be hinged oneither side and provided with a removable molded cover and integralhandle capable of great variations in styling and appearance which canbe oriented to fit the metal structure in either pivoting arrangement.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a cover for sucha door which can be varied inexpensively in styling and appearancethrough the use of different forms of inserts without any expensivechanges in the tooling required.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention areclearly shown.

7 IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front view of an insulatedrefrigerator door embodying one form of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, horizontal, sectional view taken along the line2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an irregular horizontal sectional view taken along the line3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a horizontal, sectional view of a modified form of theinvention applied to side-by-side double insulated refrigerator doors.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 3, there is shown an insulatedrefrigerator door and the adjacent portions 22 of the refrigeratorcabinet. This refrigerator door is composed of a rectangular sheet metalmember 24 having rearwardly extending flanges 26 on all four sides.These flanges 26 are perpendicular to the front portion 24. Theseflanges extend to inwardly turned flanges 28 at the rear of the door towhich is fastened the plastic inner door pan 30. This arrangementprovides a large insulation space 32 between the front planar portion 24and the inner door pan which is preferably filled with polyurethane foaminsulation or any other suitable insulating means.

Extending completely around the door between the flange 28 and theadjacent portion of the cabinet 22 is a magnetic seal 34 which may be ofthe type illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,648 issued July 18, 1967 orU.S. Pat. No. 3,075,258 issued .Ian. 29, 1963. The rectangular sheetmetal member 24 and its integral flanges 26 and 28 may be made ofgalvanized prepainted sheet steel. Preferably, it is provided with hingepin sockets at opposite ends of both the top and bottom flanges in theflange portion 26. One form of such a hinge pin arrangement is shown inU.S. Pat. No. 3,314,196 issued Apr. 18, 1967. One of the hinge pinsockets is designated by the reference character 36 at the right end ofFIG. 3 and its location is also indicated by the same referencecharacter in FIG. 1. The location for the alternate hinge pin socket andhinging arrangement is illustrated by a dot-dash outline bearing thereference character 38 in the upper left-hand corner of FIG. 1. Thehinge pin socket 36 is engaged by a hinge pin 40 supported upon theouter end of a triangular-shaped door hinge bracket 42 which is fastenedto the top of the cabinet by suitable screws 44. To change the door sothat it pivots from the opposite side the door hinge bracket 42 isinverted and placed on the opposite side of the top of the cabinet withthe pin 40 being reversed so as to enter the socket 38 upon that side.The corresponding arrangement is provided at the bottom of the door. Ifdesired, any other hinge pin arrangement may be used, such as that shownin U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,061 issued July 15, I969.

According to this invention, the rectangular sheet metal member 24 isprovided with an injection molded rotatable plastic cover 48 whichcovers the entire front of the door and also has flanges 50 on all foursides of the door covering the major portion of the flanges 26throughout substantially their entire length. The flanges 50 aresubstantially perpendicular to the face of the cover 48 and the frontface of the rectangular sheet metal member 24. The cover 48 may bemolded of any suitable plastic such as acrylic butadiene styrenecopolymer or polyethylene or polypropylene. The flange portions 50should fit the flanges 26 snugly. The flanges 50 preferably are providedwith cut-out slots 52 for reception of the hinge pin upon both sides ofthe door. However, if desired, apertures may be provided instead of theslots. The slots, however, serve an additional purpose of accommodatingdifferences in thermal expansion between the plastic cover member 48 andthe sheet metal member 24. Further, according to the invention, thecover 48 has been embellished by a forwardly extending bead 54protruding forwardly from the flange 50 entirely around the front of thedoor. It is truncated in the shape shown but may be made of other shapesfor varying styling thereof.

On the one side there is provided an outwardly extending door handle 56.Preferably, it extends substantially from the top to the bottom of thedoor. However, it may be made shorter, if desired, but it should be insuch location that it is usable when the cover 48 is rotated 180 duringa reversal of the hinging of the door. A forwardly extending bead 58extends entirely around the handle forming a recess 60 for receivingvarious forms of inserts to change the decorative pattern of the doorcover 48. The plastic used in molding the door 48 may be of variouscolors to provide various color combinations and styling.

To reverse the door, it is necessary to move the door hinge bracket 42to the opposite side and to remove the cover 48 from the door and rotateit 180 thereby placing the handle 56 on the opposite side. The hinge pinof the bracket 42 is fitted into the socket 38 on the opposite side ofthe door, and a similar shift of the pin is made at the bottom of thedoor thereby completing changing of the door from pivoting on the rightside to pivoting on the left side. The cover member 48 is then removedand rotated 180 before being replaced upon the sheet metal member 24.

In FIG. 4, the invention is shown applied to a side-by-side double doorarrangement for a refrigerator cabinet. In this form, there are showntwo insulated doors I20 and 121, each incorporating a similar flangedrectangular sheet metal member 124 and 125 provided with flanges 126 and127 extending rearwardly at 90 to the front and provided at the rearwith the inturned flanges 128 and 129. These doors are provided with aplastic inner door pan and insulating means similar to that of the firstembodiment. If desired, these doors can be arranged to pivot from eitherside in a manner similar to that described for the first embodiment. Inthis form, it is customary to pivot the doors from their outer edges andto have the handles near the center edges of the doors. These doors eachinclude a perimeter bead 154 and 155 similar to the first embodiment.The arrangement for the handle, however, is different. In this form, thehandles 156 and 157 protrude forwardly from the faces of the doors andhave ledges facing toward the center thereof. These handles 156 and 157are integral with the covers 148 and 149. The covers 148 and 149 haveapertures 162 and 163 rearwardly of the ledges of the handles 156 and157 to make possible the use of an insert in the molds for molding thehandle. These apertures 162 and 163 are covered by decorative inserts164 and 165 which extend between the base of the handles and the basesof the adjacent beads 154 and 155.

In the molding of the covers 148 and 149, additional embellishments maybe added, including bands with medallions, various additional surfaceornamentations and various patterns of beads and recesses. These changescan be made through the use of the movable inserts in the molds, therebymaking it possible to use the same molds for many different styles ofdoors.

What is claimed is:

1. An insulated door including arectangular sheet metal member havingflanges extending along the four sides, an inner door pan having edgesextending to and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member andhaving major portions between said edges spaced from major portions ofsaid sheet metal member between its flanges to provide an insulationspace, insulating means in said insulation space, wherein theimprovement comprises a molded rotatable rectangular member covering theentire front of said sheet metal member and extending along theperipheral surface of the flanges of the four sides of said sheet metalmember but terminating short of the rear of said flanges in a manner tomake said molded member removable from said sheet metal member forrotation with respect thereto, said molded member provided on one sidewith an integral projection protruding and extending along said side toform a handle,

' 2. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metal member havingflanges extending along the four sides, an inner door pan having edgesextending to and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member andhaving major portions between said edges spaced from major portions ofsaid sheet metal member between its flanges to provide an insulationspace, insulating means in said insulation space, wherein theimprovement comprises a molded rotatable rectangular member covering theentire front of said sheet metal member and extending along theperipheral surface of the flanges of the four sides of said sheet metalmember but terminating short of the rear of said flanges in a manner tomake said molded member removable from said sheet metal member forrotation with respect thereto, said molded member provided on one sidewith an integral projection protruding and extend ing along said side toform a handle, said molded member having a projecting bead extendingsubstantially along and substantially in alignment with said flanges ofsaid sheet metal member.

3. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metal member havingflanges extending along the four sides, an inner door pan having edgesextending to and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member andhaving major portions between said edges spaced from major portions ofsaid sheet metal member between its flanges to provide an insulationspace, insulating means in said insulation space, said sheet metalmember being provided with hinge means adjacent opposite edges capableof providing a pivot adjacent either edge, wherein the improvementcomprises a molded rotatable rectangular member covering the entirefront of said sheet metal member and extending along the peripheralsurface of the flanges of the four sides of said sheet metal member butterminating short of the rear of said flanges in a manner to make saidmolded member removable from said sheet metal member for rotation withrespect thereto, said molded member provided on one side with anintegral projection protruding and extending to form a handle, saidmolded member having adjacent the side opposite said handle cut outs forthe hinge means located to fit the hinge means on either side whenrotated 180, said handle being shaped to be useful and effective as ahandle when said molded member is rotated 180, said molded member beingarranged thereby to flt said sheet metal member in two orientations lapart.

4. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metal member having aface and having substantially all of its edge portions bent to form wideflanges upon the four sides, an inner door pan having major portionsspaced from said sheet metal member to form an insulation space andhaving edges extending to and connected to the flanges of said sheetmetal member, insulating means in said insulation space, wherein theimprovement comprises a molded rotatable rectangular member covering theentire front of said sheet metal member and extending along said wideflanges upon the four sides but terminating short of the rear of saidflanges in a manner to make said molded member removable from said sheetmetal member for rotation with respect thereto, said molded memberhaving an integral handle projecting therefrom in a manner to beeffective as a handle when said molded member is rotated with respect tosaid sheet metal member,

5. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metal member havingflanges extending along the four sides, an inner door pan having edgesextending to and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member andhaving major portions between said edges spaced from major portions ofsaid sheet metal member between its flanges to provide an insulationspace, insulating means in said insulation space, wherein theimprovement comprises a molded rectangular member extending over a majorportion of the surface of said sheet metal member and overlapping majorportions of the flanges along four sides thereof, said molded memberbeing provided with an aperture and an integral projection extendingalongside said aperture forming an integral handle.

6. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metal member havingflanges extending along the four sides, an inner door pan having edgesextending to and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member andhaving major portions between said edges spaced from major portions ofsaid sheet metal member between its flanges to provide an insulationspace, insulating means in said insulation space, wherein theimprovement comprises a molded rectangular member extending over a majorportion of the surface of said sheet metal member and overlapping majorportions of the flanges along four sides thereof, said molded memberbeing provided with an aperture and an integral projection extendingalongside said aperture forming an integral handle, said molded memberhaving a second integral projection extending substantially parallel tosaid first mentioned integral projection, and an insert fitted betweensaid projections covering said aperture.

1. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metal member havingflanges extending along the four sides, an inner door pan having edgesextending to and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member andhaving major portions between said edges spaced from major portions ofsaid sheet metal member between its flanges to provide an insulationspace, insulating means in said insulation space, wherein theimprovement comprises a molded rotatable rectangular member covering theentire front of said sheet metal member and extending along theperipheral surface of the flanges of the four sides of said sheet metalmember but terminating short of the rear of said flanges in a manner tomake said molded member removable from said sheet metal member forrotation with respect thereto, said molded member provided on one sidewith an integral projection protruding and extending along said side toform a handle.
 2. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metalmember having flanges extending along the four sides, an inner door panhaving edges extending to and connected to the flanges of said sheetmetal member and having major portions between said edges spaced frommajor portions of said sheet metal member between its flanges to providean insulation space, insulating means in said insulation space, whereinthe improvement comprises a molded rotatable rectangular member coveringthe entire front of said sheet metal member and extending along theperipheral surface of the flanges of the four sides of said sheet metalmember but terminating short of the rear of said flanges in a manner tomake said molded member removable from said sheet metal member forrotation with respect thereto, said molded member provided on one sidewith an integral projection protruding and extending along said side toform a handle, said molded member having a projecting bead extendingsubstantially along and substantially in alignment with said flanges ofsaid sheet metal member.
 3. An insulated door including a rectangularsheet metal member having flanges extending along the four sides, aninner door pan having edges extending to and connected to the flanges ofsaid sheet metal member and having major portions between said edgesspaced fRom major portions of said sheet metal member between itsflanges to provide an insulation space, insulating means in saidinsulation space, said sheet metal member being provided with hingemeans adjacent opposite edges capable of providing a pivot adjacenteither edge, wherein the improvement comprises a molded rotatablerectangular member covering the entire front of said sheet metal memberand extending along the peripheral surface of the flanges of the foursides of said sheet metal member but terminating short of the rear ofsaid flanges in a manner to make said molded member removable from saidsheet metal member for rotation with respect thereto, said molded memberprovided on one side with an integral projection protruding andextending to form a handle, said molded member having adjacent the sideopposite said handle cut outs for the hinge means located to fit thehinge means on either side when rotated 180*, said handle being shapedto be useful and effective as a handle when said molded member isrotated 180*, said molded member being arranged thereby to fit saidsheet metal member in two orientations 180* apart.
 4. An insulated doorincluding a rectangular sheet metal member having a face and havingsubstantially all of its edge portions bent to form wide flanges uponthe four sides, an inner door pan having major portions spaced from saidsheet metal member to form an insulation space and having edgesextending to and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member,insulating means in said insulation space, wherein the improvementcomprises a molded rotatable rectangular member covering the entirefront of said sheet metal member and extending along said wide flangesupon the four sides but terminating short of the rear of said flanges ina manner to make said molded member removable from said sheet metalmember for rotation with respect thereto, said molded member having anintegral handle projecting therefrom in a manner to be effective as ahandle when said molded member is rotated with respect to said sheetmetal member.
 5. An insulated door including a rectangular sheet metalmember having flanges extending along the four sides, an inner door panhaving edges extending to and connected to the flanges of said sheetmetal member and having major portions between said edges spaced frommajor portions of said sheet metal member between its flanges to providean insulation space, insulating means in said insulation space, whereinthe improvement comprises a molded rectangular member extending over amajor portion of the surface of said sheet metal member and overlappingmajor portions of the flanges along four sides thereof, said moldedmember being provided with an aperture and an integral projectionextending alongside said aperture forming an integral handle.
 6. Aninsulated door including a rectangular sheet metal member having flangesextending along the four sides, an inner door pan having edges extendingto and connected to the flanges of said sheet metal member and havingmajor portions between said edges spaced from major portions of saidsheet metal member between its flanges to provide an insulation space,insulating means in said insulation space, wherein the improvementcomprises a molded rectangular member extending over a major portion ofthe surface of said sheet metal member and overlapping major portions ofthe flanges along four sides thereof, said molded member being providedwith an aperture and an integral projection extending alongside saidaperture forming an integral handle, said molded member having a secondintegral projection extending substantially parallel to said firstmentioned integral projection, and an insert fitted between saidprojections covering said aperture.